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Shelley Robertson

Just where is justice in Australia hiding? This brilliant new collection of true crime stories takes us into the Australian courts of the 1980s and '90s, back in time to the goldfields of the 1860s, and out to the island nation of Nauru in 2006 to explore how the scales of justice are unbalanced. This is a world in which the innocent still get locked up and the guilty too often go free.

Take a walk outside the law with some of Australia's best crime writers. Investigate the criminals who deal in murder, drugs and kidnapping; the cops who track them down; and the journalists who report their stories.

In Outside the Law 2 some of our best crime writers take you on a trip into the shadows of Australian society. You’ll meet crooks who just can’t help themselves; killers with twisted logic or hearts of darkness; and cops who daily walk the thinnest of lines to keep them at bay, and away from the rest of us.

In OUTSIDE THE LAW 2 some of our best crime writers take you on a trip into the shadows of Australian society. You'll meet croos who just can't help themselves; killers with twisted logic or hearts of darkness; and cops who daily walk the thinnest of lines to keep the evil at bay, and away from the rest of us.

Book Review:

I often wonder why authors get involved in True Crime writing. Surely there must be a component of it that's just soul destroying. Writing about the sad, mad, bad, idiot, evil, opportunist criminals who commit the most senseless acts. Then again, there are a lot of us that read True Crime. I know there's all the analysis of "why" - the voyeurism, the thrill, readers getting a glimpse into a world that luckily most won't ever experience first hand, the readers searching for the why behind so many acts.

OUTSIDE THE LAW 2 fits into the middle of the three current OUTSIDE THE LAW books neatly. It's the first of the books edited by Lindy Cameron, and it features stories by a wide range of well known true crime writers such as Robin Bowles, John Kerr, Vikki Petraitis, Paul Kidd, Dr Shelley Robertson and more.

This set of books is made up of a series of chapters, each one touching on an individual event / story. There are some lighter hearted moments, and definitely a wide variety of styles of story-telling and of the stories being told. There isn't necessarily a theme to what's included, and there's a wide range of timeframes for when the crimes were committed. It's that aspect that I find so particularly interesting - the way that no matter how "advanced" our society allegedly becomes - the more things supposedly "improve" - the more so much of it stays the same. Those sad, mad, bad, idiot, evil and opportunistic people are still out there - commmitting acts that just make you wonder.

If you're a fan of True Crime, the whole of the OUTSIDE THE LAW series comes highly recommended.

In Outside the Law 3 some of our best crime writers take you on a walk down the darkest side of life.

You’ll meet crooks who just can’t help themselves; killers with twisted logic or hearts of darkness; and cops who daily walk the thinnest of lines to keep the evil at bay, and away from the rest of us.

Book Review:

Every year in Australia, there are a lot of true crime books released. The OUTSIDE THE LAW series from Five Mile Press is now up to number 3, edited by Lindy Cameron, released in August 2009. It includes an interesting forward from the editor where she says (amongst other things):

"What is it about ordinary law-abiding Australians and our bizarre fascination with robbers, murderers and low-life crooks? Why do those of us not personally affected by the violence or incomprehensible loss visited on too many in our society want to know the details of what happened - of exactly how it happened?"

There are then a series of possible explanations for our fascination, all of which I agree with 100% but there's one that was missed out, and an itch that is scratched admirably by OUTSIDE THE LAW 3 - and that's a look at our shared history. Undoubtedly a history through tragedy, but in the retelling of a variety of cautionary tales, there's also a chance to look back at what sort of a society we were, and how we reacted to what was happening at the time.

OUTSIDE THE LAW 3 addresses a number of different stories, and therefore topics. I've already reviewed SALVATION by Vikki Petraitis, which is the story of Rod Braybon and how he survived an horrific childhood in care. As desperately sad and distressing are the circumstances described, there's a sense of renewal at the end of that book that I hope is continuing, and an excerpt of that story is one of the early chapters in this book. Compare the circumstances of Rod's childhood at the hands of the authorities with that of "Tara", at the hands of her biological family - in a story by Robin Bowles of the horrendous child pornography case that ended well, due to the determination of police in Brisbane and in particular, Georgia, USA. Renee Otmar tells a much more personal story of the cold blooded and very chilling murder of a very young baby, whilst John Allin tells of his experiences with the family of a young girl kidnapped in Adelaide, at the time and again 30 years on. Liz Filleul looks at the inexplicable murder of a mother and daughter, whilst Peter Haddow considers the murder of a West Australian teenager by another girl, barely older than the victim.

From a procedural point of view Shelley Robertson, an expert witness in her own right, provides a wonderfully pointed outline of the strategies of both defence and prosecution teams in a courtroom (using some very illustrative quotes from Chicago - the musical), whilst Narelle M Harris looks at the impact of the interminable forensic investigation TV programs can have on the sense and sensibility of many jury members.

The book is also nicely sprinkled with the sorts of tales that many fans of True Crime expect from this sort of book - the bad, the mad, the dangerous and the daring. John Kerr looks at the rise and fall of Kiwi Terry Clark (recently made somewhat more famous than he was by Underbelly 2), as well as the Donald Mackay case out of Griffith, the Mafia and the involvement of flamboyant Labor Minister Al Grassby. Leslie Falkiner-Rose looks at the 1976 Great Bookie Robbery, including talking to a bookie who was there on the day, and she also takes the reader back into the hard-drinking, hard-working, slightly insane world of the police rounds reporters on newspapers. Jacqui Horwood looks into Task Force Zebra, an investigation into SP Bookmakers and alleged corruption in the Licensing, Gaming and Vice Squads of Victoria Police, whilst Rochelle Jackson spends some surreal time as a prison visitor to talk to Freddy Cako about his life in jail.

The good thing about this collection is the balance of stories, from the desperately sad and distressing, to the infuriating and the brazen, along with some very funny moments. None of the funny moments are overdone, belittling or cruel - but, in particular, the story of the newspaper roundsman has some laugh out loud moments as the antics are revealed. There are some touching moments as well - the story of journalist John Allin and the family of Kirste, kidnapped all those years ago in Adelaide as an example.

But does this collection answer the question of why we are so fascinated? I doubt anybody can come up with a single explanation as everybody will come to a True Crime book for a variety of different reasons. Did this one meet my particular desire for an historical perspective? Absolutely. The stories that are covered in this book - some vaguely familiar / some new to me, all go to remind us yet again of the best and the worst of humanity.

I missed the launch of this book recently, but I sure as hell wasn't going to miss reading the book. This is the third in a series of compilations of true crime stories, written by a wide range of authors with varying backgrounds, varying viewpoints about varying crimes.

From the Blurb:

Take a walk outside the law with some of Australia's best crime writers. Investigate the criminals who deal in murder, drugs and kidnapping; the cops who track them down; and the journalists who report their stories.

Just where is justice in Australia hiding? This brilliant new collection of true crime stories takes us into the Australian courts of the 1980s and '90s, back in time to the goldfields of the 1860s and out to the island nation of Nauru in 2006 to explore how the scales of justice are unabalanced. This is a world in which the innocent still get locked up and the guilty too often go free.

Book Review:

One of the principles of a strong democracy (and hence a strong justice system) has to be the right to scrutinise decisions made in our collective name.

MEANER THAN FICTION is one such book - with a series of individual writers looking at a range of cases over the years that desperately call out for such scrutiny. There are a range of viewpoints and issues discussed in this book - from the victim's point of view in the case of Dr Andrew Taylor, to the perpetrator whose extenuating circumstances are simply not acknowledged (despite later cases that have been treated very differently). There's analysis of the anguish of families and loved ones in the event of an inexplicable disappearance / mrder and the role that crime writers can play in redressing a miscarriage of justice. There's historical perspective, as well as a range of cases from more current times. It's not just murder that's discussed either - the tragedy of the so called "Pacific Solution" is starkly outlined, as is the "whole truth" of some expert testimony. There are some things worth highlighting as well - such as the Innocence Project, but there is the other side - the difficult situation faced by victims of a flatmate peeping Tom.

This anthology is as relevant now as it was when it was originally published. It's a stark reminder of the need for scrutiny and was instructive, saddening, uplifting and fascinating.